


Miracles

by FastPacedFreeFall



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Human Experimentation, Loki's scepter, implied use of GH-325, possible AOU spoilers, pre-AOU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-01
Updated: 2015-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-26 14:15:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3853672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FastPacedFreeFall/pseuds/FastPacedFreeFall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This is the age of miracles...and there is nothing more horrifying than a miracle."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miracles

**Author's Note:**

> So this was hastily finished after being put off for weeks; sorry if that shows in the quality.
> 
> I've been toying with the question of how the twins received their powers, and a few days ago I came across a video version of a prelude comic to AOU(which can be found by searching "This Scepter'd Isle" on youtube) that goes a little more in-depth to how we get to the post-credits scene of the twins from Cap 2.
> 
> I also threw in a mention of GH-325 from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., because before I found the comic that was my primary hypothesis of how they got powers.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

* * *

 

Despite Pietro's assurances, the absolute silence in the room sends Wanda's heart racing, and she glances behind her. Two men stand guard, the fluorescent light reflecting off the muzzles of their weapons. Neither of them will make eye contact, instead staring at a fixed point on the far wall.

 

She tries to control her shaking hands as the doors open again.

 

The scientist is relatively young, not much older than herself, though the gray streaks at his temple would claim otherwise. He gives her a seemingly kind smile, relaxed and open. It might work, were she someone else; she and her brother have spent years watching that same smile spread across the faces of those in parliament, its welcoming manner hiding wolves' teeth.

 

The shaking worsens. She slides her hands behind her back, telling herself that it's just the cold in the room affecting her.

 

He tries to explain the way the experiment will work, guiding her over to a pair of upright metal tables. They look like the ones from the old American science-fiction films, the ones she and Pietro snuck into as teenagers. A similar cart sits nearby full of instruments, sharp-edged and shiny.

 

“Are you ready, Miss Maximoff?”

 

Her eyes snap back to the man, his patient smile strained. She hesitates, and he raises a brow.

 

“Where is Pietro?” She has hardly seen him since they first agreed to this, only at meals and the scant moments before and after they collapse into the beds, exhausted by the rigorous testing.

 

His eyes glance at the window set near the ceiling, searching for something.

 

“He is on his way. You will be undergoing the procedure simultaneously.”

 

Her shoulders relax, and she nods.

 

The doors open again, this time for her brother. He strides in with a confidence that belies the nervousness in his eyes, but he gives her a grin all the same as he comes to stand by her side, and it's enough to make her lips turn up at the corners.

 

The scientist claps his hands together. “Wonderful, shall we begin then?”

 

Without waiting for a response, he gestures for them to climb onto the stools in front of the tables. Back against the cool metal, he begins fastening restraints around her wrists, ankles, and waist, then does the same for Pietro. His hand reaches back towards the cart, grasping a pair of tourniquets.

 

She hears a sharp intake of breath beside her, and her hand twitches against its bond in sympathy. Pietro has never been fond of needles.

 

The rubber is tied to their right arms, which are quickly swabbed. The scientist comes to stand before them, his left hand clearly holding a syringe.

 

“I'll be injecting this into you before we begin,” he says, holding it up for their inspection. Inside is a fluid, viscous and an opaque blue in color. “It will help your bodies acclimate to the treatment more quickly.”

 

He steps up to Wanda first, and she steals a nervous look at her twin. He gives her a smile more like a grimace, and mouths 'close your eyes.' She does, head still turned away.

 

“You will feel a sharp burning,” the scientist murmurs, wiping at her arm again and holding it steady. “This is normal.”

 

The needle is quick, in and out before she can flinch more than once. She takes deep breaths, biting her bottom lip while the liquid makes itself known, small bursts of hot pain radiating outward from the injection site. Her eyes flutter back open to find Pietro facing her, eyes already closed and jaw tense while he receives the same.

 

The scientist turns back to the cart, tossing both needles and his gloves into a wastebasket before nodding up at the black-glassed window. He turns back to the twins.

 

“Well done,” he says, with a grin he probably intends to be friendly. “Now, I'll be stepping out while the next part of our procedure takes place, but don't worry, I'll be watching everything from nearby.” And before they can offer any objections, he's taken the guards and left them alone.

 

With the silence returns the twisting fear in her gut, and she fidgets restlessly.

 

“Hey.”

 

Her gaze goes back to Pietro, his jaw still tensed, but eyes soft and warm. “Be strong, sister,” he says quietly, holding her eyes. “What we do today will serve us and our people well. What is a little fear in return for our freedom?”

 

She smiles, still trembling, and nods, holding tight to the conviction in his voice, and the knowledge that in this, she is not alone.

 

The lights overhead dim, till they are left in almost complete darkness, and their heads snap to the center of the room. A panel in the floor opens, and from it rises a long, slender figure. Its form is barely visible in the dark, but what draws Wanda's eyes is the pulsing, glowing gem at the tip, the light reaching out and highlighting the blade cradling it from above.

 

Her heart drops to the bottom of her stomach. Helping their people was all well and good, but she hadn't signed up to be stabbed.

 

The spear glides towards them, supported by metal braces attached to a conveyor belt-like machine set into the floor, ostensibly controlled by those behind the glass. It stops directly in front of them, the light pulsing harder and growing brighter, and she looks again to Pietro before the intensity makes it unbearable. Though it can be sensed even with her eyes closed, the glow doesn't seem to give off any kind of warmth or heat; everything around her remains cold.

 

The only heat she feels comes from the drug they injected into her; it spreads through her body, her veins becoming a highway. The burning sharply intensifies, chasing itself under her skin to the beat of her heart until she's thrashing against her bonds, the metal on her back ice cold and painful and _too much everything is far far too much._

_She vaguely hears Pietro's shouts beside her, but her teeth are gritted too tightly and speaking will turn into pained shrieking. Electricity itself races through her blood and heart and brain, everything is too much and not enough and its enough to make her scream silently for the release of death._

 

_Another wave of light and pain and fire washes over her, and her eyes open to a world swathed in **red**._

 


End file.
